Groceries and errands when you have no energy

Advice pages describe three moves for a day like this: a very short list, one trip in an order that saves steps, and handing some errands to someone else or to delivery or pickup ^[1][2][3][4]. This article is about the planning before the trip. The day as a whole is in a day with very little energy, and the time after a busy shop is in recovering after a supermarket or crowded place. Below are the ideas, an example list and sentences you can say.

What can make errands easier when energy is low?

The ideas for adults with ADHD come from advice pages at ADDitude and CHADD ^[1][2][3][4]. The National Autistic Society page is written for autistic people and the people who support them ^[5]. These are ideas from advice pages. Take what fits, and doing no errands today is allowed too.

• A list of one to three errands for the day, drawn from a longer list (ADHD advice page) ^[2].
• Errands in one trip, in an order that saves steps (ADHD advice page) ^[1].
• A set day for shopping and other routine tasks (autism guidance page) ^[5].
• A shopping list written in the order of the aisles (one autistic adult in an interview study) ^[6].
• Delivery or pickup (ADHD advice pages) ^[3][4]. These can cost extra and are not available everywhere.
• A family member who goes instead ^[4]. Partners were described as a source of support in the interview study ^[6].

If building a full list is too much, start with the one thing that ran out. One item is a list.

How short is a short list?

A CHADD page describes a master list that holds everything, with a short list for the day drawn from it. The page describes a short list of one, two or three tasks ^[2]. The National Autistic Society suggests written lists with items crossed off, on paper or in an app ^[5].

Here is what a day's list can look like:

"Today: post office, printer paper, pick up the parcel."

Everything else stays on the master list. In interviews with 15 autistic adults in Australia aged 50 to 73, one person described planning things out as exhausting ^[6]. A list written on a calmer day is one way to have the planning already done when the energy is low.

What does a one-trip route look like?

For ADHD, ADDitude suggests putting errands in a sequence and planning a route. Its example is a bank, a post office and a dry cleaner that are close together, visited before going home ^[1]. Two or three stops close together is the idea.

CHADD's magazine suggests linking an errand to a routine with a "when, then" sentence, such as "When I finish lunch, then I walk to the post office". It also suggests a location-based phone reminder, such as an alert when passing a shop, for those comfortable sharing their location with the phone ^[7].

For autism, one person in the interview study wrote the shopping list in the general order of the aisles and checked it at the end ^[6]. The study describes this as one person's way of doing it.

What can wait?

A day's list of a few items leaves the rest on the master list ^[2]. Some things go on the list just because you saw them. They can wait. ADDitude suggests writing an item down as soon as you see it is running low, on a shared list app or a paper list on the fridge, so it does not have to be remembered ^[3].

A set shopping day gives the rest of the week a plan: items that are not urgent wait for that day ^[5][3]. Food in the house and anything with a deadline are the things that do not wait.

What are the options that skip the shop?

Some options skip the shop:

• groceries brought to the door ^[3]
• a reminder to check for open delivery or pickup slots, separate from the shopping itself ^[4]
• filling the cart by reusing a previous online order ^[4]
• if you do go in, a printed usual list with items crossed off ^[4]
• asking a family member to shop for you ^[4]
• asking others to take over tasks ^[2]

In the interview study, 7 of the 15 autistic adults had partners who often shared daily tasks, and partners were described as the preferred source of support. Several said it was hard to put into words what they needed ^[6]. Not everyone has someone nearby, and the sentences below are for when someone does offer.

What can you say to someone who offers to go?

You can change any of these until they sound like you.

When someone says "Let me know if you need anything":

"Yes, could you pick up two things for me?"

When you have a list ready:

"I've put three things on a list. Could you take the first two?"

With someone at home who knows what is due:

"I can do one errand today. Which one matters most?"

When someone is going out anyway:

"Since you're passing the post office, could you drop this off for me?"

What can a saved list hold?

A page on ADDitude suggests keeping a digital master list for reuse, since most purchases stay about the same from one shop to the next ^[4]. On a low-energy day the list is already written, and the choice is which few items to take from it. If building one is too much for now, it can wait.

About this article

• The ideas come from advice pages (ADDitude, CHADD, the National Autistic Society) and from an interview study with autistic adults. The ADHD errand ideas are suggestions on advice pages. The list example and the sentences you can say are Mindum's own wording, and you can change any of them to sound like you.
• The National Autistic Society page is from 2020, and delivery services described on the ADDitude pages may have changed since.
• Low energy that lasts for weeks has many possible causes, including physical ones, and a GP can look at that too.

Sources

1. Quinn P. Impatient? Tips for adults with ADHD who hate to wait (item 7, "Do errands in batches"). ADDitude, updated 28 July 2025. additudemag.com/impatient-adults-with-adhd
2. CHADD. There's an art to creating a to-do list. ADHD Weekly (no date shown). chadd.org
3. ADDitude Editors. Grocery shopping is the worst. Make it better with these tips. Updated 7 February 2022. additudemag.com/slideshows/i-hate-grocery-shopping
4. Levy R. Grocery shopping during a pandemic: ADHD tips and tricks. ADDitude, updated 9 May 2025. additudemag.com/grocery-shopping-adhd-during-pandemic
5. National Autistic Society. Organising and prioritising: a guide for all audiences. Last reviewed 14 August 2020. autism.org.uk
6. Hwang YIJ, Foley KR, Elley K, et al. Experiences of performing daily activities in middle-aged and older autistic adults: a qualitative study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2023;53(5):2037-2049. doi:10.1007/s10803-022-05473-7
7. Karidi D. Remembering the future: how ADHD affects prospective memory (and how to work with it). CHADD, Attention Magazine, December 2025. chadd.org

By Mindum. An app to track and regulate emotions, energy, and focus.